Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the disclosure relate in general to the field of computers and similar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in this field. Still more particularly, it relates to a method, system, and computer-readable medium for providing navigation assistance within a user interface.
Description of the Related Art
Software developers continue to introduce new and more sophisticated applications, usually at the expense of increasing the complexity of their underlying program code. This complexity often extends the application's graphical user interface (GUI) which in today's high-tech computing environment is often both “deep” and “dynamic.” Such a GUI is “deep” if it takes a user multiple mouse clicks, or other user gestures, to get from his or her current location in the application to a desired location. A GUI is likewise considered to be “deep” if there are multiple ways for a user to accomplish the same task. Likewise, such a GUI is “dynamic” if different types of users have different kinds of functions to them. A GUI is also considered “dynamic” if the user can personalize or customize the interface options, which may include the addition or removal of a function within the GUI.
However, as GUIs become deeper and more dynamic, software developers are faced with the question of how to help users navigate complex applications. Current approaches for providing navigation assistance include the provision of a library of help pages that the user can access while within the application, mouse-over pop-up help, a collection of frequently asked questions (FAQs), and interactive help wizards. However, anticipating all possible user navigation scenarios becomes more challenging as applications grow in complexity. As an example, a user may reach the same destination, and its corresponding function, by taking multiple and different paths through an application.